With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the trade rumors are starting to heat up around the MLB. Some clubs have suffered injuries this spring or have seen players underperform, two of which include the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. They're both in trade talks with the San Diego Padres.
MLB Insider Jon Heyman has the latest, as the Red Sox and Orioles are reportedly interested in the Padres' starting pitcher.
A few teams have talked to padres about James shields. O's are one. Red sox have talked to SD about SP; shields logical
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 25, 2016
Padres are willing to pay some of shields' backloaded deal (21M per now), how much depends on return. Nothing thought close
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 25, 2016
While nothing is close, this remains an interesting scenario to watch as Opening Day approaches. We noted earlier today that those projected to be in the Orioles' starting rotation are performing terribly for the most part. As for the Red Sox, Eduardo Rodriguez will start the year on the disabled list, and Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz have not been pitching well at all during the spring.
Check out the spring stats from Baltimore's pitchers and Boston's pitchers:
Orioles
Miguel Gonzalez - 12.56 ERA, 2.37 WHIP and four strikeouts in five starts (14-1/3 innings)
Ubaldo Jimenez - 9.45 ERA, 1.95 WHIP and five strikeouts in three starts (6-2/3 innings)
Yovani Gallardo - 16.62 ERA, 2.31 WHIP and one strikeout in 4-1/3 innings
Chris Tillman - 7.94 ERA, 2.47 WHIP and six strikeouts in 5-2/3 innings
Kevin Gausman - 4.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and six strikeouts in six innings
Red Sox
David Price - 3.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and nine strikeouts in seven innings
Joe Kelly - 1.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 20 innings
Clay Buchholz - 4.50 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and six strikeouts in 10 innings
Rick Porcello - 12.00 ERA, 2.22 WHIP and four strikeouts in nine innings
Henry Owens - 5.40 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 13-1/3 innings
Steven Wright - 3.07 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and eight strikeouts in 14-2/3 innings
Spring training isn't typically a time to get worried, but the Orioles and Red Sox have endured significant issues with their starting rotations, and aside from a few lone bright spots, it doesn't look great for either club heading into 2016.
The O's still need a top of the rotation starter, and the Red Sox need a definitive option to pitch behind ace David Price, so Shields makes sense for both teams (and both have been linked to him in trade rumors previously). However, the question is how much of Shields' salary the Padres would be willing to cover.
The right-hander didn't have a bad campaign in 2015, but his numbers were his worst since 2010. He's also owed $65 million through the 2018 season, which would pose a dilemma for the O's, who added an obscene amount to their payroll this offseason.
Other targets for the Orioles and Red Sox could be Andrew Cashner (who is having a tremendous spring) and Tyson Ross (who was the subject of many trade rumors last year). Cashner will be a free agent after 2016, but Ross is under club control through 2017.
While the Orioles have expressed a reluctance to add more to their payroll and Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said the team isn't exploring pitching options on the trade market, one can never be so sure, as 2016 expects to be a crucial year for both teams.
The Padres are clearly not in a position to contend, so it's likely that general manager A.J. Prefer will be open-minded when speaking to teams about his starters considering they possess a good amount of value and they have little use on a team that probably won't make an impact in 2016.
Stay tuned for updates as Opening Day approaches.
